G-TOUR 4

Above, the first G-TOUR took the group to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Daikaiju Enterprises is currently planning G-TOUR 4 to Japan.

On the official website, it is posted:

G-TOUR 4 2022

Daikaiju Enterprises is pleased to announce a return to Japan for G-TOUR 4, taking place from November 1st through November 12th, 2022. G-TOUR is the name given to a series of Godzilla-centric voyages to Japan and is an opportunity to visit iconic sites from kaiju cinema, soak up some of the country’s incredible natural beauty and culture, and engage in shopping experiences found nowhere else.

At present, the tour is on, but Japan currently has a ban on foreign tourism due to the pandemic.

One of the good points is that it is planned for November, the autumn season. Hopefully, by then, all tourism restrictions of Japan will have been lifted. As of now, foreign tourism to Japan is banned. Besides that, as the website also states, it also avoids the stifling heat of Japan's summer. 

The planned itinerary is very inviting, if I can get a cat-sitter for those 12 days I would sign up. I was planning to go to Japan two years ago, but the pandemic nixed that. (I went on the first G-TOUR back in 2004.)

For more information, go here.

Visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum By Virtual Tour

Above, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Thanks to COVID-19, travel to Japan is out of the question for the time being.

However, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is commemorating the 75th anniversary (which is today) of the August 6, 1945 atomic bombing of the city with a virtual tour of the museum.

Time Out Tokyo reported:

The 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima takes place this August 6, but Japan’s travel restrictions due to the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic have made it impossible for many people to visit the city and mark the occasion as planned. As a way to commemorate the anniversary while sustaining social distancing protocols, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has partnered with international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as Japanese and American artists to curate materials for a virtual tour of the museum so that people can still visit the site from home.  

The online tour consists of 3D renderings of the museum and its artefacts, including everyday objects which survived the bombing. The new online exhibition, complete with multimedia components, is available from August 6, which marks the anniversary of the bombing.

To read more and to take the virtual online tour, go here. 

5 Best Places To See In Japan

Above, the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Ever wonder what places in Japan Chinese tourists want to see or consider the best?

An article in China's Business Times may or may not be a clue, but they have posted what they consider to be the "5 Best Places Tourists Need To See In Japan".

They begin with:

Whenever one is thinking of traveling in Asia, Japan will never be out of the list. The country is now turning into one of the most travel destinations in the world, not just because of its cherry blossoms and cold weather but also because of the many tourist spots it holds that travelers can go to. So if you want to know where is the most excellent place to go when in Japan, here are the five best spots you can visit.

To see what they are, to here. 

Hiroshima Peace Tourism Project

Above, the A-Bomb Dome. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those who plan to visit the city of Hiroshima, they should also visit a-bomb sites around the city. A new interactive map of those sites to help visitors has been introduced.

The Japan Times reported:

HIROSHIMA – Hiroshima has unveiled the Hiroshima Peace Tourism project, which includes an interactive map showing routes intended to help visitors view the city’s many memorial sites beyond just the Atomic Bomb Dome in the Peace Memorial Park, the main and only destination for about half of tourists. 

“We want visitors to understand and appreciate the city’s commitment to peace,” a city official said.

To read more, go here. 

Graffiti Found At Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Above, the Atomic Bomb Dome at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Nothing is sacred anymore, not even in Japan's Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.

Graffiti has been found at three locations within the park.

NHK reported:

Police in Hiroshima, western Japan, are investigating graffiti found at 3 places in the Peace Memorial Park. The park is home to the landmark Atomic Bomb Dome, which was damaged in the 1945 bombing. 

Police said on Tuesday that black, spray-painted markings were found on a bench near the dome, on a fence at the Peace Memorial Museum and on the door of a garbage disposal facility near a monument for the Korean victims of the bombing. 

Security guards found the graffiti on Monday morning. Workers were seen erasing the markings on Tuesday.

To read more, go here. 

TripAdvisor: Western Japan Dominate With 30 Tourist Draws

Above, Miyajima's famous "floating" torii gate. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It looks like western Japan is dominating with 30 tourist attractions, according to travel website TripAdvisor.

The Asahi Shimbun reported:

West is best for tourist attractions in Japan, according to international users of TripAdvisor, with eight of the top 10 sightseeing spots lying on the western side of the archipelago. 

TripAdvisor, one of the world's largest travel websites, on June 12 published its annual list of the top 30 tourist draws for foreign travelers based on visitor feedback posted in languages other than Japanese. 

Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine in Kyoto, renowned for a large number of vermilion “torii” gates in its grounds, tops the list for the fifth year in a row. 

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, including the Atomic Bomb Dome and the peace memorial museum, ranked second, followed by the Itsukushimajinja shrine, famous for its “floating” gate on the shore of the Miyajima district in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, completing a western Japan top three.

To read more, go here. 

Smoking Banned At Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park

Above, Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Locals and tourists who want to light one up at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima are now out of luck.

News On Japan reported:

Hiroshima has completely banned smoking in the city's Peace Memorial Park, which is visited by tourists from all over the world. 

A revised ordinance that completely bans smoking in the park came into force on Sunday. 

Ashtrays in 4 former smoking areas were covered, and cones were set up around them to make it clear that they are now off-limits.

To read more, go here.

How Hiroshima Rose From The Ashes

Above, the A-Bomb Dome in 2004. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Hiroshima was the first of two Japanese cities to be obliterated by an atomic bomb. But today, it is a thriving city with very few reminders outside of Peace Memorial Park of the atomic attack in August 1945.

BBC Travel has an article on how Hiroshima rose from the ashes.

They wrote:

Today’s Hiroshima is a bright, welcoming place, blessed with an enviable location on the shores of the Inland Sea, with its maze of misty islands. On the other three sides are mountains. Six rivers run through it, earning Hiroshima the nickname the ‘City of Water’. 

Visitors invariably leave here with an overwhelming feeling of admiration and respect for the tremendous character of Hiroshima’s residents, who resolved to pick themselves up and start all over again, turning their tragic experience into a force for good in the world. Many visitors also say they experience a notable spike in their levels of empathy, compassion and altruism. It’s what you might call ‘the Hiroshima Effect’.

To read more, go here. 

Film Shows 1935 Hiroshima

Above, the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall before the bomb. 

A film shot in 1935, showing the city of Hiroshima before it was destroyed in August 1945 by the atomic bomb, has been digitalized and posted online.

The Japan Times reported:

HIROSHIMA – The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum released online Wednesday digitally processed 16 mm film footage that shows the central area of Hiroshima about 10 years before the city was devastated by the U.S. atomic bombing. 

The original film is the only footage owned by the museum depicting the area before World War II. 

The footage is “valuable data that clearly shows how Hiroshima looked before being atom-bombed,” said a staff member at the museum. In the closing days of the war, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, on Aug. 6, 1945, and another on the city of Nagasaki three days later.

The film briefly shows the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall before it became the ruin known today as the Atomic Bomb Dome.

Above, the Atomic Bomb Dome today from a similar vantage point. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To see the film, go here.

Families of Allied Troops Donating To Hiroshima Peace Museum

Above, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Families of allied soldiers have been making donations of photographs and artifacts to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, according to the Mainichi Shimbun.

They wrote:

HIROSHIMA -- The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has been receiving donations of materials, including photographs capturing Hiroshima in the aftermath of the 1945 atomic bombing, from the children and grandchildren of mostly Allied troops stationed in the city after Japan's surrender. 

A curator at the museum appreciates the donations, saying that some of the photos "show common people in the streets, and that's something that is rarely found in official military documents."

To read more, go here. 

Japan Cheapo's Hiroshima Guide

Above, the Atomic Bomb Dome. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Many foreign visitors to the Kansai region of Japan generally include Hiroshima in their travel itineraries. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum is the biggest draw, but there are other things to see and do while in the city.

Japan Cheapo has posted an article guide of things to see and do in Hiroshima.

It begins with:

Hiroshima is known for one thing, and is on most people’s Japan itinerary—but besides visiting the museums, what can you do there? Our Hiroshima guide will outline all that there is to do, see and eat for a full day of discovery. 

Hiroshima has history, and although it is an important part of the city’s memory and legacy, it is also a place of renewal and beauty. No doubt it will be on your list if you’re traveling in Kansai, and so it should be. But in addition to the memorials to the atrocities of the past, there are plenty of things to enjoy as well as learn from. Only 1 hour and 20 minutes from Osaka by bullet train, Hiroshima is the perfect day trip, and the perfect double-day trip when combined with nearby Miyajima. Allowing for personal preference, it seemed to suit Hiroshima’s legacy to start with the museum and memorial, followed by the beautiful gardens and natural beauty which has re-grown, as it allowed for reflection and consideration.

To read more, go here. 

TravelPulse: Top 5 To Dos In Japan

Above, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

People are always promoting their "the top this" and "the top that" to potential tourists to Japan. Naturally, these are just suggestions or recommendations, so do with them what you will. Some actually do have good suggestions.

The latest is from TravelPulse, who has come up with their "top 5 to dos in Japan".

They begin with:

From hot springs to castles, and picturesque landscapes, Japan is a timeless country that fuses ancient traditions with the excitements of modern life. 

We’ve put together the top 5 “must dos” for travel to Japan.

To see what they are, go here. 

Japan Cheapo's Chugoku Region

Above, Miyajima's famous torii gate. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

People traveling south from Tokyo will reach the Chugoku Region of Japan before leaving the main island of Honshu for Kyushu.

In Chugoku, one of the prefectures is Hiroshima, where visitors can see the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum and, nearby, Miyajima.

Japan Cheapo has an article on visiting the Chugoku Region.

They begin with:

What makes Japan so amazing to travel in is the variety—with every new prefecture, city or village you find something unique. Consisting of 47 prefectures, including 43 traditional prefectures, two urban prefectures (Osaka and Kyoto), one territory (Hokkaido) and the Metropolis of Tokyo, Japan has a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of surprises to unearth. If you’re thinking of venturing outside of the obvious, here are some highlights to help you pick your prefecture! 

We’ve divided them by region, with this part covering the warms isles of Chugoku. With plenty of stunning sea views and breathtaking landscapes like Tottori’s sand dunes and the torii gate of Miyajima, the sea is a vital part of the region. For lovers of seafood, amazing views and untouched towns… this is for you.

To read more, go here. 

Hiroshima A-Bomb Museum Attracted 1.6 Million Visitors

Above, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan set a new record in tourism in 2016 by attracting 24 million foreign visitors.

Along with that, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum also set a record in the number of visitors during fiscal year 2016.

According to Kyodo News:

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum drew a record of nearly 1.6 million visitors in the year ending March, with visitor numbers rising in the wake of former U.S. President Barack Obama's May visit. 

As of Friday, the number of visitors eclipsed the previous record of 1,593,280 set in fiscal 1999, and the figure is likely to reach around 1.73 million by the end of March, the museum said. 

Following Obama's visit to the city as the first sitting U.S. leader in late May last year, the number of visitors to the museum rose 40 percent from a year earlier in June and July.

To read more, go here. 

Newly Discovered A-Bomb Photos Now On Display

Above, the Atomic Bomb Dome. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those planning to visit Japan, and Hiroshima in particular, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum has some newly-discovered photographs on display.

According to an article in The Japan Times:

HIROSHIMA – The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Tuesday showed to the press a total of 10 newly discovered photos, including one taken by the crew of the Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima that shows the mushroom cloud rising skyward on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945. 

The photographs collected from the Library of Congress and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in the United States also include a picture of U.S. Navy sailors observing the so-called Atomic Bomb Dome 10 years after the bombing.

Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park and Museum is one of the most popular attractions in Japan for foreign tourists.

To read more, go here. 

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum Visitors Surge After Obama Visit

Above, the cenotaph and the Peace Museum in Hiroshima. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park and Museum has been a popular tourist attraction, but the numbers of visitors surged since President Obama's visit last month.

Kyodo News reported:

The number of visitors to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum rose by about 40 percent from a year earlier in the four weeks following U.S. President Barack Obama's visit, the museum said Tuesday. 

"It is a sign of increased interest due to the Obama effect," said an official of the museum, which put the number of visitors at 161,720 from May 28 -- the day after Obama's historic visit to the western Japan city -- to June 27. 

Of the estimated visitors, 31,348 were foreign nationals, an increase of more than 50 percent from the year before, according to the museum.

To read more, go here. 

Miyajima's Scenic Spots

Above, Miyajima's famous "floating" torii gate. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back in 2004, the first G-TOUR took a day trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima via shinkansen. It's hard to believe that nearly 12 years had passed since that trip.

While we were in the Hiroshima area, we paid a visit to Miyajima that sits in the Seto Inland Sea. We took a ferry to the island and spent a few hours wandering around.

Following our visit to Miyajima, we visited the Peace Memorial Park and Museum in Hiroshima.

Malay Mail's website has an article on the things to see on Miyajima that includes Itsukushima Shrine, the famous "floating" torii gate and wandering deer.

They begin with:

MIYAJIMA, June 26 — Named one of Japan’s top three scenic spots, Miyajima is a tiny island that packs a great number of attractions and picturesque sights, making it a compact destination on its own or as a side trip from Hiroshima. You can get a quick overview of its key landmarks within three hours but it is best to set aside a full day to discover her multiple charms. Here are 12 things to do, see and taste at this serene island. 

I am considering a return visit to Miyajima later this year.

To read more, go here. 

Obama's Repulsive Hiroshima Speech

Above, the USS Arizona Memorial. Obama seems to have forgotten all about Pearl Harbor. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Just when one thinks that President Obama couldn't possibly stoop to a new low, he surprises everyone by stooping even lower.

At best, Obama's Hiroshima speech met mixed reviews. Ben Shapiro will have none of it. He has penned a scathing review at the Daily Wire.

He began it with:

The White House assured us last week that President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima would not be an apology photo-op. 

They lied. 

On Friday, President Obama said America’s use of the A-bomb to end the threat of Japanese fascism sprang from American desire for conquest, suggested that America had ushered in an age of “atomic warfare,” and said that we could achieve a “world without nuclear weapons” if only we clapped for Tinkerbell. This came shortly after his visit to Vietnam, where his White House announced that America would start selling weapons to the communist dictatorship. 

Yes, our president is a total disgrace.

To read more, go here.

Hiroshima's Popularity Continues To Rise

Above, Peace Memorial Park and Museum in Hiroshima. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the most popular tourist stops is the Peace Memorial Park and Museum in Hiroshima, Japan. 

President Obama's visit to that city is currently putting it into the spotlight.

I visited Hiroshima in 2004 as part of the first G-TOUR that was sponsored by G-FAN magazine.

WPTZ-TV (Burlington, VT) posted:

(CNN) —More than seven decades after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, effectively ending World War II, President Barack Obama is set to become the first U.S. president in history to visit the site of the attack on Friday. 

The president's visit shines an even brighter spotlight on what's already one of the most popular tourist attractions in Japan. 

According to figures released in April, nearly 1.5 million people visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in 2015 -- the year that marked the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing. 

The number of international visitors has risen by 44.6 percent to 338,891 -- a record high.

If one is interested in history, particularly World War II history, a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum would be worthwhile.

To read more, go here. 

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park To Raise Admission Fee

Above, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the least expensive places in Japan to see is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum. The complex has been a popular tourist destination for foreign visitors.

However, entrance fees are about to be hiked up.

According to Japan Cheapo:

One of the cheapo-est deals in Japan is about to get less cheap. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is set to quadruple its admission fee from the jaw-droppingly-low 50 yen to a still-reasonable 200 yen. According to Hiroshima’s mayor, Kazumi Matsui, the price hike will take place next April to help pay for maintenance of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed A-Bomb Dome and other buildings.

Although the admission fee is to be raised, it will still be at a reasonable price.

To read more, including details of the museum and park, go here.